I. Field of the Invention
the present invention relates to an electrical component, and in particularly, to the electrodes of the electrical component.
II. Description of the Prior Art
As an electrical component or an electronic device becomes smaller and smaller, the size and the reliability of the electrode structure becomes a bottleneck considering the electrical performance and the reliability of the electrical component. The electrodes are used to connect the electrical component to an external circuit such as a printed circuit board (PCB), and terminals of the conductive elements of the electrical component are electrically connected to corresponding electrodes such as surface-mount pads for soldering onto the corresponding pads on the PCB. A lead frame is usually welded to the terminals of the electrical component; however, the size of the lead frame normally takes quite a large space for an electrical component in a small foot print and therefore, the lead frame is not suitable for being used as an electrode for certain electrical components or electronic devices that requires a smaller size.
Surface Mount Technology (SMT) is a feasible way to reduce the overall size of an electrical component or an electronic device, such as a resistor, a capacitor or an inductor. However, as the overall size of the electrical component becomes smaller and smaller, how to make the surface-mount pads reliable in both mechanic and electrical aspects is a very important topic. The resistance of an electrode created by conventional electroplating may vary very much, which degrades electrical performance in certain applications or even affect the yield rate of the electrical components in manufacturing factory. On the other hand, chemical plating can cause a short circuit when the material of the plating spreads into certain unwanted areas.
Accordingly, the present invention proposes an electrode structure to overcome the above-mentioned problems.